My Mega Mini Office Makeover: THE REVEAL!!

After much designing, even more hard work and many [many] DIY projects... it's done... and I love it!! When you first look, it seems like this office could be one of those pretty rooms that no one uses- but it's acutally one of the hardest workin' rooms in our house thanks to a few tricks from this design ninja ;)

As a reminder: here's how the room looked before. It measures a tiny 10ft. x 12ft. and I had a lot of office hoo-haa [yes, that's my techinical term...] to cram into it. To make matters even more complicated, this room is right off the foyer and I didn't want it to look... well... "office-y."[there's another techincal term for ya!]

Alright, here's the final product: I call it "Function meets style on a budget!" The only items in the entire room that I had already were the table, a bookshelf and the pew- yet I only spent around $380 to complete the room!!! No way, right?! My secret: DIY projects, bed sheets and lots [and lots] of paint. Let me take you on a little tour now: Recognize a few of my Savvy Projects?? This pew is from my New Life for an Old Pew project: I painted it white to make it cheery for the space. And the table lamp is my $8 Lamp Makeover. And the window treatment [that you can almost see!] is the super easy Faux Roman Shade that I made.


Here is my [beloved] Vintage Dresser! Let me tell you a little secret that I discovered... every home office needs a dresser. Their drawers are perfect for holding [and hiding] all kinds of office stuff that you don't want out [paper, discs, more paper, envelopes, the paper cutter... you get the idea!]. Most desk drawers are so tiny they are a joke for actually holding anything... but dresser drawers are the real-deal!

This is where my Quick Change Photo Gallery and Painted Glass Vases went.

I used a lot of books to decorate in here... I like to select my favorite books and magazines that I read often and arrange them in interesting ways. That way, everything is easly accessable, not to mention it's a really inexpensive decorating tool!

Again... more magazines [Can you tell that I love House Beautiful?]! And here are my tables for Thinking Outside the Box: Stencils. They were stacking tables, which gave me a lot flexibility in how I used them in the space.

Also, since we don't have a formal dining room [on purpose... it would be a wasted space for our family], I wanted to use this room for dining when we have big groups over for dinner. We had such an occasion last week, and it worked perfectly for the kids' table. I was super excited about that little bonus function for the office! And another bonus: after the table was cleared the adults sat & talked in here... which is a big deal because before when this was a "living room" with a couch no one ever used it!!

But- the biggest "yay" of them all is my secret wall of Organizational Bliss! The back wall is where the real magic happens... that's where the [2nd] desk, Bulletin and Chalk boards, printer, files and loads of books all hide behind a simple, white curtain! I [and by "I," I mean my Super Hero Hubby] installed a ceiling-mounted track system and then I [and this time I mean "me"] purchased 3 queen sized flat sheets, ironed them [not fun] and hung them as a soft wall for the office. The curtain adds interest, hides the "office-y" stuff and [let's just be honest] someday will hide a mess if I haven't filed all my papers as I should [not if it happens, but when it happens!].

And here's the hidden bookshelf! I just love that we really, really use this room. It's been functional since school started and this is the homework room too. My daughter sits at the bench seat [which is actually a wooden box that holds "project stuff"] and my son sits at the pew, so I can sit right next to him when he needs help [he's younger]. They each have a drawer at their desks where homework supplies are located, and they each have a spot to put their backpacks when they are done. And then momma-bear can sit on the "throne" [that's what I call the chair from How [Not] to Upholster a Chair] and oversee everything [which means sign and initial countless papers!].
And here are a few more projects from the blog: On the easel is my DIY Artwork, and behind the chair is my Hand-Antiqued Overscale Mirror and the notorious Hanging Yarn Lamp.

Well, I've been very busy with this Mega Mini Office Makever, but I feel like all of the hard work was worth it!